Claughton Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “Completely consistent… they still do the best ever Pizza Napoletana” – this huge Italian ‘Ristorante & Pizzeria’ just outside Preston was opened in 1985 and has grown over the years to house 300 guests in one sitting, of whom about a third are in a striking glazed extension, complete with al fresco terrace.

In an “unusual setting” on the banks of the River Wyre by a historic toll bridge (“right down by the water with a pleasant walk before the meal”), the Beaumes’ rambling riverside inn combines views of the Lake District and chic lodgings ranging from a penthouse suite to luxury cabins. “A quiet lack of fuss presides over the whole experience” while on the food front, it “continues to offer probably the best food on the Fylde (that sticky out bit of Lancashire between Preston and Lancaster)”. “The food varies between simple or classic dishes done very well and a few excursions into experimentation (which sometimes work, sometimes don’t), so – split the difference – and say it’s very good”. Top Tips – “bargain three-course lunch for £27 per person”; it’s “well worth popping into the on-site deli”, TOTI (‘Taste of the Inn’), where you can pick up “a really splendid choux bun”; “you’ll never go wrong with their superb French Onion Soup, followed by an oxtail suet pudding”.

“Craig Wilkinson continues to do what he does so well in his family-owned old pub, that lent its name to the hamlet and former railway station of Bay Horse” (on the West Coast Main Line). It’s been in his family for over two decades, and continues to provide “classically-inspired food” (e.g. Black pudding, Puy lentil cottage pie, Chocolate mousse) “that’s very good indeed”. “If you happen to visit on a warm, sunny day, dining al-fresco in the garden is a very pleasant experience”.

This award-winning curry house from Mohammad Ali continues to punch above its weight (geddit), having expanded three times over the years to its current 205-seater size; the Ribble Valley spot offers a “really nice atmosphere and lovely food” to match, with one fan who has “been going for over 25 years, so rigorous testing” (indeed) claiming that they have “yet to find one to beat” its Lamb Madras.

Victor Yu’s enjoyably flash Cantonese pub conversion in the Ribble Valley guarantees a “perfect night out with good food” – and is “just as brilliant as ever” after 22 years. He opened a spin-off in Manchester last year, Choi Wan in the new House of Social food hall, inspired by Hong Kong-style street food.

“Deservedly regarded as one of the country’s best gastropubs” – this nowadays legendary pub in the Forest of Bowland is one of our top-40 most commented-on venues outside of London in our annual diners’ poll, and has risen to fame by acting like “a real pub serving locally sourced fare prepared and presented with love and respect. No foams. No smoke. Just great dishes. And arriving here on a journey north from London is like coming home to a big, warm Lancashire hug”. Chef Stosie Madi’s food is “quite simply exceptional. She can do classics (say a terrine of local game, a simple Dover sole, a pie – well anything with pastry! – and the best chips in the North West, or a rum baba) perfectly. She has an unerring and utterly enviable encyclopaedic understanding of how to cook seemingly anything so that it impresses”. Meanwhile “front of house supremo, the indefatigable AJ’s welcome is never less than the warmest and his dog treats are always available for four-legged guests”. One visitor after several years found “everything raised a notch… a bit less rustic but still a pub with a good food vibe that still feels like good value”. “The rise of Ribble Valley dining continues!”. Top Menu Tips – “there are pies… and then there are the Parkers Arms pies”… “the neighbouring table swooned over a chicken and wild garlic version”. “Sweet unctuous ox heart with red wine and excellent chips, half lobster in bisque reduction and carrot puree, Sea bass with sea herbs are all hits”. “Anything with a Lebanese or African influence is worth making a beeline for on the menu, and indeed one of the most memorable meals at Parkers is a Lebanese feast menu. But then the annual Good Friday ‘Fish Fest’ is a highlight of the eating year”.

Even in the foodie hotspot that is the Ribble Valley, chef-patron Michael Heathcote’s well-known destination stands out for its “relaxing pub atmosphere, great real ale and copious pub fare at fair prices”.

2023 Review: “Simplicity” combines with “top quality” at Carlow-born Breda Murphy’s deli-restaurant, a popular destination in the Ribble Valley since 2006 for her Anglo-Irish home-style cooking. “At first it feels overly conservative, but every dish is perfectly cooked, often with a small and interesting twist such as thick-cut lime and soy-cured salmon.”

Opinions are somewhat divided this year on this famous pub with rooms in the Ribble Valley, where chef Steve Smith departed in mid 2024 for the bright lights of Manchester. Fans say its production of “Michelin-starred service, wines and food, all without the aspirations and fuss”, continues unabated and feel “you don’t get much better than this for quality and value”. But it also inspired a couple of disappointments this year, including amongst former fans, who perceive “a lack of heart or passion” to recent meals, or who have found some dishes “uninspired and poorly prepared”. Hopefully teething problems?

This striking Art Deco building was brought back to its former glory in the late 2000s after falling into disrepair and today its dining room is “one of the loveliest places to enjoy a romantic dinner over tables facing out to the sea”. While most attention goes to the exemplary afternoon tea (comprising “perfect sandwiches, delicious scones and cakes”), there was also praise this year for some other “delicious” cooking.

2024 Review: This crowd-pleasing pub once served as a hospital, but since its takeover and refurb’ by the Brunning & Price group some years back, it’s now a proper country gastroboozer (also with a handful of rooms); on the menu – high-quality British dishes abetted by some more exotic influences from around the world.

2024 Review: “Went here after reading Jay Rayner’s Nov 2022 review. Superb!” – this no-frills café near the Central Lancashire University campus (from Hong Kong natives Fai Tsang and her husband, Wai) is “very much a café rather than a restaurant but you can (need to) book”, thanks to brilliant Cantonese cooking that’s worth rolling up your sleeves for. Top Menu Tip – “The roast duck and siu yuk are delicious with the crisp skin contrasting the tender meat. Soy chicken is very flavourful and the brisket tender, tasty and well spiced”.

“Really great, inventive food prepared to exacting standards by a talented chef” makes this two-year-old from a strong team headed by Oli Martin (ex-Northcote and Hipping Hall) a “real gem”, serving “ambitious tasting menus (for £79 per person at dinner, no à la carte) with strong presentation and good blends of flavours that are precise but not excessive”. (Giles Coren of The Times also heaped praise on “supremely gifted and thoughtful chefs (and) proper northern hospitality” in his November 2024 review).

In its current format since 1984 (and originally built in, er, 1688), this pub and restaurant won renewed interest and good all-round feedback in our annual diners’ poll, in part down to a favourable December 2023 visit from The Observer’s Jay Rayner: he praised a listed building that’s “deliciously seasoned with history” and “seriously impressive”, proper “cheek-slapping, belly-pleasing” food – notwithstanding being massively let down by its décor and “eye-achingly awful” website.

This year-old pizzeria from the team behind Shawbridge Cicchetti and Parlour cocktail bar has made an early impression on locals for its good-value offering.

“Interesting up-and-coming new arrival” in a “converted Ribble Valley pub” (previously the Buck Inn, in a village near Clitheroe), “still with a small bar for locals but more a restaurant for a frocked-up clientele”. “Personable” chef-patron Bob Geldeard talks guests through “a very ambitious and well-executed seven-course tasting menu for £70 per person” (set, seasonal and Sunday menus are also available), while his partner Kiaja heads “well-drilled staff”.